3-minute fit test: Dips, jumps, and toes to the bar

Celebrity trainer Jay Cardiello puts you to the test with dips, jump squats, and toes-to-the-bar moves.

by MF Editors

milan2099 / Getty

Find yourself bored heading into the gym day in and day out? Ever look for a way to gauge your fitness level besides how much weight you can lift? We asked Jay Cardiello, celebrity strength and conditioning specialist, to create another quick 3-minute challenge. And remember, Jay is 44 years old and has had 13 major surgeries, two of which were spinal fusions, so there's no reason you can't reach his fitness level.

Here are three more bodyweight exercises that will test your strength and willpower.

Jay Cardiello's 3-minute fitness test

Complete as many reps of the following exercises as you can in 60 seconds.

1. Dips

The beast of all tricep exercises is the dip. It's designed to challenge the average gym-goer to see if he's spending a little too much time focusing on "Curls for the Girls" instead of truly attempting to add mass and strength to his arms. Get up on the parallel dip bar, and perform as many as you can in 60 seconds.

Coaching tip: Be sure that you lower until your elbows are bent at a 90° angle before pressing back up to the starting position.

Once you hit the 30-second mark of this exercise there's no doubt you'll be screaming for the oxygen tank. This 60-second test will blast your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, lower back, and abdominals. And that's not all, this protocol will be extremely taxing on your cardiovascular system, which is sure to leave you exhausted for your final test.

Coaching tip: Don't jump for height. As much as you might want to impress the people in your gym with your jumping ability, the greater distance that you create between your feet and the floor will decrease the total amount of repetitions. Perform this test adjacent to the pullup bar to help you control the height on each of your jumps.

This movement is essentially a hanging leg lift with the added task of tapping your toes to the top of the pullup bar. (We can thank CrossFitters for that.) The toe to bar is an exercise that will challenge not only your core and lumbar region, but also put your body control and mental grit to the test. You might want to embrace every second of your minute break before this exercise as it's going to be brutal.

Coaching tip: During your 60-second rest after jump squats, stretch your fingers in a concentric and eccentric fashion to warm up and loosen your forearms for this minute-long hanging and swinging battle.